. . . albeit an astonishingly well-executed one. I mean, whoever put this thing together definitely put the time in. They don't link to a single spoof site (with the exception of the Landover site itself, which they claim to be trying to shut down). On the contrary, they link to a large number of genuine Christian sites and had previously been hosted on two authentic Christian hosting services - ilovejesus.com and truepath.com. They also seem to have constructed at least two or three web sites to further the ruse. They left very few direct clues scattered around the site, and the ones that they put in aren't 100% conclusive (i.e. no meta tags spelling out "this is a joke you idiots"). The online store was a nice touch - almost every item in it is oddball enough to make you think "they can't be serious, can they?" and just within-the-realm-of-possibility enough to make you say "well, maybe they're serious." The site is subtle in a lot of places where parodies normally go off the deep end, and that's why it's such an effective troll. Remember that the hallmark of truly great satire is its deadpan quality - the audience should be rolling on the floor laughing, and the satirist should be looking around with a puzzled look saying "what's so funny?"
But the site is absolutely, completely, positively, without-a-doubt a hoax. (I'm pretty sure. I think.)
The evidence:
1. The Bios page - http://members.truepath.com/objective/members.html - is a bit too ridiculous. Look at the pictures - even though the page has a link for all members to submit photos, presumably netting member photos from all around the country and from at least a few different walks of life, they're all a bit too carefully picked out - they all have the same pose, the same silly expressions, and the same Photoshop-induced sheen/background about them. The bios themselves are a bit too tongue-in-cheek - Timothy Allmon giving a 10% tax-preparation discount "for non-Christians willing to convert on the spot"? Or Pastor Jose Rosas - "Though most of the Pastor's flock are too poor to own computers, they are still a valuable asset for raising the awareness of more affluent Christians"? Dr. Richard Paley, who "has lead successful boycotts against Sears and Piggly-Wiggly"? Fred "Skeet" Hoskins as a recently-appointed "Abstinence Czar"? Every single bio has some detail in it that could be interpreted as satirical, and that's too much of a coincidence for a real organization.
2. They slip up and go a bit over the edge a couple of times. In the online store, the description for the "Missionary" Tote Bag featuring Habu (an elephant that would seem to be Hindu, Buddhist, and Hare Krishna all at once) says "Excellent for carrying Bibles and tracts to far off villages!" In the article declaring the Godlessness of shopping malls, the author points out that security guards in need of salvation may be watching you through security cameras as you try to witness to passing shoppers, so "When in view of one of these cameras, hold up inspirational signs and put on pantomime plays for their benefit." Finally, re-read addendums III and IV in the original "Apple" article with an eye cocked for a lampooning author behind the writing. Doesn't he/she seem to be milking the new material for all it's worth?
3. A long shot - The Onion's "astrologist", Lloyd Schummer, is listed as a "Retired Machinist" next to his picture on the Onion's site, and Jim Carlson, the supposed founder of Objective Ministries, is listed as a retired machinist next to his somewhat similar picture on the Objective site.
4. Not such a long shot - many people have pointed out the fact that the source code reveals the tag META name="generator" content="Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who hath generated all". I mean, give me a break. Also, Jack Diamond's address is listed as "diamondjack@nacgt.org", Dr. Troy Franklin's address is "tfranklin@antioccult.org", and the infamous Dr. Richard Paley sports "drdinosaur@covenant.org". A Whois lookup will reveal that nacgt.org and antioccult.org are both unregistered domains, and covenant.org is the site of a Presbyterian rather than a Baptist church. Add to that the idea of a Creationism zealot going by the handle of "drdinosaur", and the e-mail adds look pretty suspicious.
5. Use your head. If you read every single line of every article with the assumption that the whole thing is a send-up of stereotypical fundamentalist Christians (yeah, yeah, I know what assumptions make, but it's just an exercise), there are WAY to many parodical patterns to ignore. Look at the picture of John the Baptist on the Halloween article and Darth Maul's pic in the Mall article. Whoever wrote this stuff has their finger firmly on the pulse of what will make people laugh.
Slashdot Mirror
. . . albeit an astonishingly well-executed one. I mean, whoever put this thing together definitely put the time in. They don't link to a single spoof site (with the exception of the Landover site itself, which they claim to be trying to shut down). On the contrary, they link to a large number of genuine Christian sites and had previously been hosted on two authentic Christian hosting services - ilovejesus.com and truepath.com. They also seem to have constructed at least two or three web sites to further the ruse. They left very few direct clues scattered around the site, and the ones that they put in aren't 100% conclusive (i.e. no meta tags spelling out "this is a joke you idiots"). The online store was a nice touch - almost every item in it is oddball enough to make you think "they can't be serious, can they?" and just within-the-realm-of-possibility enough to make you say "well, maybe they're serious." The site is subtle in a lot of places where parodies normally go off the deep end, and that's why it's such an effective troll. Remember that the hallmark of truly great satire is its deadpan quality - the audience should be rolling on the floor laughing, and the satirist should be looking around with a puzzled look saying "what's so funny?"
l - is a bit too ridiculous. Look at the pictures - even though the page has a link for all members to submit photos, presumably netting member photos from all around the country and from at least a few different walks of life, they're all a bit too carefully picked out - they all have the same pose, the same silly expressions, and the same Photoshop-induced sheen/background about them. The bios themselves are a bit too tongue-in-cheek - Timothy Allmon giving a 10% tax-preparation discount "for non-Christians willing to convert on the spot"? Or Pastor Jose Rosas - "Though most of the Pastor's flock are too poor to own computers, they are still a valuable asset for raising the awareness of more affluent Christians"? Dr. Richard Paley, who "has lead successful boycotts against Sears and Piggly-Wiggly"? Fred "Skeet" Hoskins as a recently-appointed "Abstinence Czar"? Every single bio has some detail in it that could be interpreted as satirical, and that's too much of a coincidence for a real organization.
But the site is absolutely, completely, positively, without-a-doubt a hoax. (I'm pretty sure. I think.)
The evidence:
1. The Bios page - http://members.truepath.com/objective/members.htm
2. They slip up and go a bit over the edge a couple of times. In the online store, the description for the "Missionary" Tote Bag featuring Habu (an elephant that would seem to be Hindu, Buddhist, and Hare Krishna all at once) says "Excellent for carrying Bibles and tracts to far off villages!" In the article declaring the Godlessness of shopping malls, the author points out that security guards in need of salvation may be watching you through security cameras as you try to witness to passing shoppers, so "When in view of one of these cameras, hold up inspirational signs and put on pantomime plays for their benefit." Finally, re-read addendums III and IV in the original "Apple" article with an eye cocked for a lampooning author behind the writing. Doesn't he/she seem to be milking the new material for all it's worth?
3. A long shot - The Onion's "astrologist", Lloyd Schummer, is listed as a "Retired Machinist" next to his picture on the Onion's site, and Jim Carlson, the supposed founder of Objective Ministries, is listed as a retired machinist next to his somewhat similar picture on the Objective site.
4. Not such a long shot - many people have pointed out the fact that the source code reveals the tag META name="generator" content="Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who hath generated all". I mean, give me a break. Also, Jack Diamond's address is listed as "diamondjack@nacgt.org", Dr. Troy Franklin's address is "tfranklin@antioccult.org", and the infamous Dr. Richard Paley sports "drdinosaur@covenant.org". A Whois lookup will reveal that nacgt.org and antioccult.org are both unregistered domains, and covenant.org is the site of a Presbyterian rather than a Baptist church. Add to that the idea of a Creationism zealot going by the handle of "drdinosaur", and the e-mail adds look pretty suspicious.
5. Use your head. If you read every single line of every article with the assumption that the whole thing is a send-up of stereotypical fundamentalist Christians (yeah, yeah, I know what assumptions make, but it's just an exercise), there are WAY to many parodical patterns to ignore. Look at the picture of John the Baptist on the Halloween article and Darth Maul's pic in the Mall article. Whoever wrote this stuff has their finger firmly on the pulse of what will make people laugh.
Just my 30 silver pieces worth.
- Mark